Whitley, UK, August 13 2019: Jaguar Land Rover has donated its 700th upcycled desk to a village school in rural India. The ‘Crates to Classrooms’ initiative was the brainchild of employees at Jaguar Land Rover’s Pune manufacturing plant as a way to support the education of  disadvantaged local children, whilst finding a second life for wooden pallets used to deliver parts to the plant.

Working with a local carpenter, engineers in Pune converted the pallets and crates into handmade school desks in three different sizes for children of all ages. In the last four years, the team has donated 700 desks to seven schools in and around Pune benefitting more than 1,000 local children.

The most recent delivery was to Punarutthan Samrasasta Gurukulam in Chinchwad Gaon village which educates young people from rural backgrounds, who are deprived of education. Girish Prabhune, Founder of Punarutthan Samrasasta Gurukulam, said: “With Jaguar Land Rover’s encouragement and support, the enthusiasm of the students has increased.

“Jaguar Land Rover’s donation of 125 desks to our project has helped in the creation of a more formal educational environment for study and encouraged them to read and write even further.”

The upcycling project forms part of the company’s Global Responsible Business Strategy which seeks to ensure it has an ongoing positive social impact within the communities it operates.

Chris Thorp, Responsible Business Director at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “We are firmly committed to sustainability and supporting local communities. This project is a great example of these two priorities in action. Re‑using waste pallets in this way supports our approach to driving a ‘circular economy’ whilst providing high quality desks for young people in classrooms across Pune”.

Jaguar Land Rover’s Pune assembly plant opened in 2011 and today assembles six vehicles for the Indian market: Jaguar XE, XF, and F‑PACE, Range Rover Velar and Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.